Suddenly though, way down the stretch of road there, I saw them suddenly slow and turn, before I could hear the engines growl again as they began to roar back my way.
I could feel my blood run cold. Here I was sitting alone in my car at an abandoned gas pump on a deserted stretch of highway, with zero cell phone reception and two bikers had just turned around to head back to me. All of a sudden every crazy late-night college story about biker gangs and initiation “mayhem” came rushing into my head, and I found myself gripping the steering wheel with white knuckles, feeling the fear shoot through me.
What if Joe had sent them?
I quickly snapped out of my trance and locks the doors as they roared loser, before suddenly realizing how ridiculous a move it was. As if a closed window on an empty highway was going to stop them.
The two roaring bikes came rolling into the dusty, cracked-pavement of the gas station. With a final snarling crescendo and a pop, the thundering sound cut out suddenly, and there was silence.
The two motorcycles, all black, leather, and chrome, had come to a stop about twenty feet in front of my truck, their engines off now and ticking quietly in the afternoon heat. But what really caught my eye were the two men sat astride the bikes. They were both were clad in dark boots, denim, and leather vests over chiseled and heavily inked torsos with muscled, equally tattooed arms. These guys didn’t look like a couple of yuppies out on their weekend motorcycles. I thought again about all those “biker gang” stories; these guys looked like the real deal.
One of them dismounted with practiced ease, shaking his dirty blond hair out as he pulled off his helmet and hung it on the handlebars. He kept his sunglasses on, but I could tell they were both just sitting there looking at me. He looked at his partner and nodded, and I could feel my breath start to come in heaving gasps.
Oh my God, this is how it happens. This is how no one ever sees me again.
The man who’d stepped off his bike pulled his sunglasses off then as he turned and started to move towards me, like some sort of jungle cat stalking his prey. I could see his eyes then - sharp and blue, and trained right on me, and I could feel the cold dread welling upside as I sat there hyperventilating inside the hot confines of my car.
He stopped a few feet from the car and furrowed his brow as he looked at me, before he suddenly took a step back and raised his hands up. “Look, we were just seeing if you were having car trouble.”
The blonde guy’s voice was honeyed, with just a touch of twang in it. There was a lopsided, cocky grin on his face as he stood there in jeans and a white t-shirt pulled tight across a thickly muscled chest. Inked tattoo lines ran out from under the fabric and down his arms.
God he was attractive. Rough-looking, yes, but in that rugged, manly way that you really only saw in the movies.
I took a deep breath. Screw it. If they wanted to hurt me, it’s not like a locked car door and a rolled up window were going to stop them out here in the middle of nowhere.
I opened the door. “Well, the car is fine, I guess its just the gas I’ve got a problem with.”
The man grinned, his blue eyes flashing at me. “Well, the pumps off, so there’s your problem.” His grin widened, showing his white teeth and his chiseled jaw line. His friend snorted behind him, before standing and taking his own helmet off. His long black hair was held back from his face in a small ponytail and a coarse and thick beard framed his lips. The two of them strode forward, hard, muscled, and sweating in the desert heat. I felt a flutter of nervous energy hit me, and I took a deep breath.
“I’m Jackson, and this is Connor.” I stepped from the car and shook the blonde guy’s hand, feeling the power in his grip before turning to the dark haired bearded guy and doing the same.
“Abby.”
“Where you headed, honey?”
I shook my head, my eyes still hidden behind the sunglasses I wore. “I- I don’t actually know. West, I guess?” I forced a smile, trying not to think about what might still be coming after me. “Just taking a trip and hoping to get some adventures along the way.”
“Well, I’d say you tripped right into one right here.” Jackson’s eyes glinted as his hardened face cracked into a smile. “Well listen, we canspare a bit to get you down the road a little bit. There’s a little town about twenty miles further with a gas station and a diner, and motel if you’re not looking got keep driving all night.”
I shook my head, the fear and apprehension I’d had when they’d first rolled in just dropping away. “That would be amazing! You guys are life savers, thanks so much!”